Apparatus for producing artificial-silk filaments.



No. 732,784. I PATBNTL'D JULY;7, 1903..

E. H. RYON & c. N. WAITE. APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ARTIFICIAL SILK FILAMENTS.

APPLIOATION I'ILED JULY so. 1902.

N0 MODEL.

1&1. 61 g m: NORRIS PETERS cm, PHDTO-LITHO,. WASHINGTON. n. c.

No. 732,784. UNITED ST TES Patented July 7, 1903.

PATENT OFFICE.

EPPA H. RYON, OF WALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, AND CHARLES N. WAITE, OF LANSDOWNE, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNORS To GENERAL ARTIFICIAL SILK COMPA Y, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ARTIFICIAL-SILK FILAMENTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 732,784, dated July '7, 1903.

7 Application filed July 30, 1902. Serial No. 117,627. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, EPPA H. RYON, residing at Waltham, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, and CHARLES N. WAITE,

residing atLansdowne, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, citizens of the United States, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Producing Artificial- Silk Filaments, of which the following de' IO scription, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to'anapparatus by means of which fibers or filaments are formed from solutions of cellulose or other material; and it has for its object to provide a machine of this character which will produce a thread or filament of a uniform size regardless of the viscosity of the cellulose solution.

Artificial-silk filaments are now commonly made by forcing the cellulose solution or other material through small orifices in a forming-nozzle or spinneret, the filaments as they leave the nozzle passing through some suitable setting solution. Heretofore it has been customary to provide the requisite pressure for forcing the solution through the spinneret by connecting the latter with a cylinder filled with the cellulose solution, in which o cylinder operates a plunger to which pressure is applied by means of weights, compressed air, or any other Suitable means. Where a constant weight is applied to the plunger and the solution is consequently un- 5 der a constant pressure, the size of the filaments depends upon the viscosity of the solution, which is affected by the temperature and other causes. The result is that when the viscosity of the cellulose solution is reduced,

as occurs when the temperature is above the normal, the constant pressure to which the Solution is subjected forces it through the orifices in the spinneret or forming-nozzle more rapidly than when the viscosity is 5 greater, owing to lowered temperature. It will be obvious, of course, that the more rapidly the solution is forced through the orifices the larger will be the resultant filaments, and for the reasons above given it is practically 5o impossible to produce an artificial-silk thread of a uniform size by existing devices. To overcome these defects, we have provided a mechanism which operates to force a given qantity ofthe cellulose solution through the spinneret or forming-nozzle in a predetermined time regardless of the viscosity of the solution, whereby a filament of uniform size is insured. One of the best ways now known to us for thus forcing a definite quantity of the cellulose solution through the forming nozzle in a definite time consists in providing means whereby the usual plunger and cylinder are given a uniform relative movement. In the'form of our invention herein illustrated we have preferred to illustrate a fixed plunger which operates in a movable oylin-, der, said cylinder being connected to the forming-nozzle in the usual way. Suitable mechanism is provided for moving the cylinder toward the plunger at a definite uniform rate to thereby discharge or force the contents of the cylinder through the forming nozzle in a given time regardless of the viscosity of the solution.

Referring now to the drawings, Figure-1 is a front elevation of an apparatus embodying our improvements. Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof. Figs. 3 and 4 are details hereinafter described.

The frame of the machine is designated generally by 3, and it supports a cylinder 4, adapted to receive a given quantity of the cellulose Solution, and a plunger 5 cooperating therein. A filter 6 of any suitable or usual construction-such, for instance, as 85 illustrated in Patent No. 702,382, June 10, 1902, to O. F. Topham-and provided at its .end with a forming-nozzle or spinneret 7 is connected in some suitable way with the interior of the cylinder 4. The filter is sup- 9o. ported so that its forming-nozzle 7 is immersed in a suitable setting solution contained in a vessel 8, all as described .in Said patent. We have omitted the filter from Fig. l to avoid confusion in the drawings, 5 said figure being taken on Substantially the line x 00, Fig. 2. Either the plunger or the cylinder may be movable, it only being necessary that they have a movement relative to each other, and in the form of our invention I00 through a nut 10, which is supported upon a suitable bearing 11, and thus held from longitudinal movement. The nut 10 is connected to and driven by a worm-gear 1.2, which meshes with a worm 13 on a countershaft 14, said shaft being driven by the wormand-gear connection 16 17 from a shaft 18, which in turn is driven from the main shaft 20 by means of the belt 21 and the changegearing 22 23 24. By thus giving a uniform rotation to the driving-shaft 20 the nut 10 will be in turn rotated and the cylinder 4 given a uniform movement.

The preferred way of connecting the filter (3 with the interior of the cylinder is to provide the plunger with the central bore or channel 24, with which communicates the pipe 25, connecting to the filter, said pipe being connected with a suit-able drip-cock 26 for a purpose to be presently described.

The filaments f as they are forced from the spinneret 7 become set or hardened by their passage through the setting solution and pass from the spinneret under a guideeye 30, from which they are taken to a drawing-roll 31, as in the patent referred to and as seen in Fig. The drawing-roll 31 is mounted upon a shaft 32, suitably supported in the frame, which is driven from the shaft by the belt 40, said shaft 39 being in turn driven from the main shaft 20 by the belt which passes over the pulleys 34 35. From the drawing-roll the filaments pass through a suitable funnel or guide 36, which projects into the open end of a rotary box 37, (shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1. and 2,) said box being similar in construction to that shown in the above-cited patent to Topham and being supported upon the rotary spindle 38. The spindle 3b may be driven in any suitable way; but we have herein illustrated the same as being driven directly from the main shaft 20 by means of the belt 41. The rotary box herein shown is larger than that illustrated in said patent, and in order to coil the filaments therein properly it is necessary to give to the guide 36 a traverse. We have accordingly mounted the guide upon an arm 43, which is carried by a standard 44, suitably guided by the frame and having a pivotal connection with a lever 45, pivoted to the frame. The lever is operated by means of a cam 46, mounted on a suitable shaft 47, said cam being shown as engaging a pin or projection 48 on the lever. The shaft 47 is herein illustrated as being driven from the small pulley 49 by means of a belt 50, and the pulley 49, which is integral with the larger pulley 51, is driven from the shaft 32 by the belt 52, this construction providing a sort of reducingearing which operates to properly time the cam.

The operation of the device is as follows: Assuming that the cylinder 4 is in the position shown in the drawings and has been filled with the cellulose solution, the rotation of the main shaft 20 will through the gearing above described operate to turn the cylinder upward, thereby forcing the liquid therein through the duct 24 and filter 6, the solution as it emerges from the forming-nozzle being formed into filaments, as illustrated. These filaments after passing over the drawing-roll 31 are introduced into the rotary box, into which they are fed by the rotation of the drawing-roll. The filaments are twisted together after they leave the drawing-roll 31 by the rapid rotation of the box, and the centrifugal action within the box serves to form a compact coil around the interior thereof, the said coil being properly formed by the traversing movement of the funnel. Since the upward movement of the cylinder 4 is a uniform one, it follows that the contents of said cylinder must be discharged through the forming-nozzle in a given length of time, regardless of the viscosity of the solution, and therefore the filaments will always have a uniform size under allconditions. This provision forinsuring absolute uniformityin the size of the thread we consider as an important part of our invention, and believing that we are the first to accomplish this we intend to claim the same broadly. If for any reason it is desired to make a smaller orlarger thread, this may be accomplished by varying the speed of the vertical movement of the cylinder 4 either by changing the size of the gear 24 or by varying the speed of the drivingshaft 20, as desired.

\Ve prefer to provide means whereby the cylinder 4 may be quickly lowered after it has been raised to discharge its contents and without the necessity of the slow operation of the screw and nut 9 and 10. One convenient way of accomplishing this is illustrated in Fig. 4, wherein the nut 10 is split, and the two parts thereof are movable relative to each other, so they can be separated. This may be accomplished in any convenient way, and, as illustrated, the two parts of the nut are mounted to slide in ways 10 in the gearwheel. Each of the parts when in operative or closed position is bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the gear 12. hen, however, it is desired to lower the cylinder, the bolts 31 may be removed, when the nut can be spread to disengage its threads from the stem 9 and allow the cylinder to assume its lowered position. It will of course be understood that the bore through the gear 12 is large enough to admit of the stem passing freely therethrough. The two parts of the nut may then be again closed and rigidly secured to the gear by the bolts 51. Instead of the particular construction above described, however, any other suitable way for providing for the quick return of the cylinder may be employed without departing from our invention. I

The cylinder 4 may befilled in any suitable way either by lowering the same sufficiently to permit the plunger to be withdrawn there from or by connecting the same with a suitable pipe 60, which-connects with the source of supply. In the latter case the pipe would preferably be connected with the cylinder by a flexible connection 61 to admit of the vertical movement of the cylinder. This latter method of filling the cylinder is preferable, because it prevents the accumulation of any air in the cylinder, as would be the case if the plunger were entirely withdrawn therefrom. In filling the cylinder from the pipe 61 the 20. valve 62 will be opened when the cylinder is its upper position and after the nut 10 has been disengaged from the stem 9, when the pressure to which the solution is subjected will force the same'into the cylinder and gradually lower the latter until the full-line position, Fig. 1, is reached.

While we have herein shown one specific way in which the results desired may be accomplished, yet we do not consider our invention as limited in all its details to the construction shown, for since we believe that we are the first to provideany nleansfor forcing a given quantity of cellulose solution through a forming-nozzle i-na given time we desire to claim the same broadly and consider as coming within ourinvention any apparatus which accomplishes this result.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure. by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. In apparatus for forming fibers and filaments from cellulose solutions, a formingnozzle, and means to force a definite quantity of solution through the said nozzle in a given time irrespective of the viscosity of the solution. I

2. In an apparatus of the class described, a forming-nozzle, and means to force any given quantity of cellulose solution through the said nozzle in a predetermined time regardless of the viscosity of the solution.

lulose solution, a plunger in said oylinder,and

means to move one of said last-named parts relative to the other at a uniform speed whereby a given quantity of the cellulose solution may be forced through the nozzle in a predetermined time.

4. In an apparatus of the class described, a formingnozzle or spinneret, a stationary plunger, a cylinder embracing said plunger, a communication between the cylinder and spinneret, and means to give the cylinder a uniform movement whereby a given quantity of the cellulose solution contained in the cylinder may be forced through the spinneret in a given time.

5. In an apparatus of the class described, a stationary plunger having a passage-way therein, a forming-nozzle connected to said passage-way, a cylinder embracing said plunger, and means to move the cylinder relative to the plunger;

6. In an apparatus of the class described, a stationary plunger having a passage way therein, a forming-nozzle connected to said passage-way, a cylinder embracing said plunger, and means to give the cylinder a uniform movement.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, a movable cylinder having a screw-threaded stem, a stationary plunger entering said cylinder, a forming-nozzle or spinneretcommunicating with the cylinder, a rotary nut engaging said screw-threaded stem, means to rotate said nut, and means to hold the latter.

from longitudinal movement.

8. In apparatus of the class described, a forming-nozzle, and mechanism to positively force cellulose solution through said nozzle at any desired rate irrespective of the viscosity of the said solution.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of a two subscribing witnesses.

EPPA H. RYON. CHARLES N. WAITE. Witnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS, MARGARET A. DUNN. 

